Articles
18.02.2021
The last Shah of Iran in Stalingrad
During the 75 years since the end of World War 2, Stalingrad-Volgograd has been Russia's informal center of people's diplomacy: it would annually welcome hundreds of official and unofficial delegations as well as touristic groups from all over the country and the whole world. Here is the place of historically significant contacts on the level of the world leaders, influencers and, most importantly, the regular citizens – the ones expressing the will and opinion of their nations. With this article, we are beginning a series of publications about the outstanding guests of Stalingrad- Volgograd.
For example, on June 29-30, 1956, Stalingrad was visited by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi – the last absolute ruler in the history of Iran, whose banishment put an end to the continuous Persian monarchy.
The honorary guest visited the construction site of the Water Power Station and took a boat journey along the Volga River, of which, as mentioned by his wife Lady Soreya, they both had heard much in their childhood. Following Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's departure from Stalingrad, a No. 27 special edition of the 1956's "Novosti Dnia" Cinema Magazine was issued: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG6a7sfZKOU
At that time, the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was not yet known as Aryamehr ("Light of the Aryans") and Bozorg Arteshtaran ("Commander-in-Chief") – still, he had made himself known on the political arena.
Having ascended to the throne, the 22-year-old prince expressed his readiness to cooperate with the Great Britain and the USSR, and in 1943 declared war on the Nazi Germany. Initially, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overshadowed by his own government, but after an unsuccessful attempt at his life managed to completely revert the situation by persuading the National Parliament to amend the existing Constitution so that it would give much greater powers to the Shah.
By 1975, an authoritarian single-party regime had been established in Iran. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi tried to divert from numerous Islamic traditions, dreamt of a swift industrial and economical modernization of the country, and planned economic and social reforms – which failed, though, to win for him the love of his subjects. The population of Iran were displeased with the oppression of religion, suppression of political dissent, and western, even pro-US politics. The last straw that led to the famous Iranian Revolution of 1979 was the cruel suppression of a student uprising, to which the Iran nationals responded by a large-scale work strikes that put the whole country's economy to an abrupt halt.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi fled from the country. A referendum followed, resulting on April 1, 1979, in the designation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, one of the few remaining theocracies, where the civic power is, nevertheless, held by the President, the Parliament and the Prime Minister.